Copa90 creates unique Euro 2016 animations

Content creators in sport don’t need broadcast rights to be successful, and the remarkable rise of Copa90 is testament to this. The global football network – owned by Bigballs Media – prides itself on telling stories from outside the 90 minutes by focusing on fan culture around the world.

With 1.1 million subscribers in more than 200 countries, Copa90’s alternative approach to sports media makes it stand out from the crowd and attract brand partnerships with the likes of Nissan, Adidas, Turkish Airlines, and most recently Coca-Cola.

These beautiful animations are a collaboration between Copa90 and London based animation production company Grizzle. The videos are created within 45 minutes of the goals going in, distributed across social media and included in The Fans Daily, produced in partnership with ITV. As soon as a team scores, Grizzle’s squad of four animators take a different aspect each; the cross, shot and goalkeeper’s movements, as well as adding finer details such as the curvature of the ball and player’s celebrations.

A Grizzle animator puts the final touches on Wayne Rooney’s celebration at Euro 2016

“Copa90 have been great, they’re raving mad football fans”, said Tom Carpenter, Director of Grizzle. “When we add extras like targets & ball trajectories they get giddy like children. We share that same excitement which is ace.”

“The animated version of Albania’s 43rd minute goal vs Romania had 1.4 million views on Twitter over 12 hours. It was a perfect storm, being their first ever in major tournament and having the animation drawn before the final whistle was blown. To see your work shared at that rate is a buzz.”

These wonderful animations and the rate at which they are produced means Copa90 not only cover the fans at Euro 2016, but can also include coverage of the games themselves, further proving that traditional broadcast rights are no longer essential for quality sports content.

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